Time to face facts. Doubt It Publishing cemented the publishing house with Voices From The Herd: An Anthology For Buffalo, NY. Despite the time involved, anthologies are an easy project to attract local writers. The project was a colossal success and the proceeds that the book has earned for The Just Buffalo Literary Center will resonate for years to come.
Lightning struck twice when heretofore unknown Mark McElligott sent his manuscript along for Random Thoughts From A Broken Mind, which was easily one of the funniest books I've read in fifteen years. While Mark (and the contents of his book) aren't exactly family friendly, we found a niche for his talent and his book continues to entertain while finding a new audience.
The open reading submission for 2011 was less than satisfactory. I'm slightly saddened to announce that there won't be any Doubt It Publishing Author Of The Year this year because, truth be told, I put all of my eggs in two or three baskets. Not one, but three promising manuscripts passed my desk that held promise. One had potential but it wasn't polished enough. Another had stellar character development but the author's needs and requests were unreasonable. The final project was perfect but the person behind the collection couldn't commit.
I've spent the last ten years interviewing writers to find out what works and what doesn’t. What behaviors succeed, what personality traits work and which ones don't. In the same sense, I've spent a lifetime learning what it means to run a successful publishing business. Many schools in the music business open their doors to anyone willing to collect a paycheck and find themselves on the verge of bankruptcy within a few years. Other ventures weed out new creative endeavors after a short time and turn to subsidy publishing, choosing only to publish and copyright their own work.
Doubt It Publishing is an ideal. A publishing house that was built to foster new, subversive and talented Buffalo authors and save them from the pitfalls and aggravations that I've gone through for the last ten years. This won't be a vanity house and it won't be a catch-all for any author coming down the pike. It has to be an imprint that welcomes those of you promising enough to make the cut who are willing to put as much work into promoting your book as you did writing it.
2012 is a wash. The Doubt It Publishing docket for this year has failed. So we grow, evolve and adapt. Here's the decision moving forward: The Call For Submissions will be year round from here on out. As the Publisher and Editor In Chief, I will no longer depend on any one writer or any one manuscript. There will no longer be a six month reading period. If you have a promising work and you want to publish and promote it next year, I want to work with you. The business model remains. I'm still looking for one book to work with, but I'm swinging the submission gates wide open.
Tell me what you've been working on, Buffalo. You've got all year to do it, and every year from here on out.
Please send your sample chapters, query letters or entire manuscripts to: bigwordsmailbag@yahoo.com 
No comments:
Post a Comment